Govt. expects imported stocks of rice between December 16 and 25

By Leenah Wahab  

Around 5,200 tonnes of fresh stocks of imported rice will  be released to the market between December 16 and 25, the Sri Lanka  State Trading Corporation (STC) said yesterday.  

Manager of Procurement at STC Dhanushka Pushpakumara said  the imports will maintain availability. “After a Cabinet decision, we  have published an open tender for all countries that will be closed on  the 5th December,” he said.  

According to the Weekly Food Commodities Bulletin published  by Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute (HARTI),  due to limited stock in the market, retail prices of all the rice  varieties have increased. The highest price increase of Rs.5.00/kg was  recorded for raw red and raw white rice, while retail prices of Nadu  grade I and Nadu, grade II have also increased by 
Rs. 3.00/kg. The report states that compared to the same period last  year, the retail prices of all the rice varieties have increased, with  the highest price increase of 13 per cent recorded for raw red rice.  

The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) said a maximum retail  price would not be imposed as this would aggravate the shortage, instead  importing will provide sufficient stocks. “This is not a hoarding issue,  the shortage of paddy has caused unavailability of rice,” a  spokesperson for it said.